Why Green?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
- Anais Nin

I get asked this question a lot, especially by people who knew me before I started coloring my hair green, about a year ago. The short answer is, "to look different." The long answer is at: http://claudiam.com/AboutMe/GreenNewYear.htm

In 2001 I painted this painting called "Breaking Free." (More about this painting at: http://claudiam.com/Paintings/DetailPages/DetailBreakingFree.htm ) At the time, I had just decided to go against the advice of everyone around me and stop pursuing my engineering management career to pursue full time what I have always wanted to do - my art. I had been painting seriously all of my adult life, and twice before I took time off between jobs to pursue my art full time, but I had dropped all of the leads since the last time and I knew I would be starting cold. But by the time I painted this, I knew I was going to go for it, for as long as humanly possible.

I must admit, management paid better, but I love what I'm doing right now, and I know I will always have what I create this way. No one (except myself) can cancel a project mid-stream and throw my work away. And four years later, here I am, still at it, putting my art on cards: http://www.claudiampublications.com/

These days, my advice to anyone who asks is, "pursue your dream" and/or "be yourself." Life's not long enough to do both that and what others prescribe. I feel lucky to know what my dream is, and even more so to be able to pursue it.

- Claudia